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| Pakistani authorities use a bulldozer to demolish the house of an absconding tribesman who had allegedly sheltered suspect al-Qaida fighters in South Pakistan on July 2 |
ISLAMABAD,
July 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Five state-of-the-art
helicopters equipped with spying digital systems, for stepping up
border security and surveillance at the Pakistani-Afghanistan border
arrived at the Pakistani Air Force Base on Friday, a Pakistani
newspaper reported Saturday.
Quoting
a diplomatic sources, the Frontier Post said that the U.S. authorities
are believed to hand over these helicopters in a special gathering to
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf.
The
paper said that Pakistani officials have already inspected informally
the latest equipment loaded in the helicopters for use in the U.S.-led
international war against terrorism of which Pakistan is a frontline
partner.
A
technical delegation of the United States also arrived in Islamabad to
demonstrate the facilities loaded in the helicopters and also to
explain to their Pakistani counterparts the technical details of the
choppers, the source at the base said, reported the paper.
The
helicopters were believed to land at Quetta, but due to bad whether
were landed in Rawalpindi.
The
helicopters are part of the package announced by the United States to
help Pakistan to combat terrorism and also to control sneaking of
al-Qaeda and Taliban activists from Afghanistan to Pakistani tribal
areas.
Three-spy
plane and $ 10 million would also be provided to Pakistan as part of
the special grant. Out of the amount $ 1 million, each would be
provided to Balochistan and NWFP province to beef up security at the
common borders with Afghanistan.
Pakistani
Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said Friday that the U.S. was also
expected to provide extra funds to strengthen Pakistani police
intelligence operations for the U.S.-led crackdown against Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We are acquiring equipment and training for police and seeking
help from the U.S. on the grounds that we are cooperating in the war
against terrorism," Haider was quoted as saying by the official
Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
"Therefore, it should accrue benefit to Pakistan on a long-term
basis." He said Pakistan was not interested in money,
but in equipment, training and capacity building for which "our
programs are heading positively in the greater interest of
Pakistan."
Thousands of Pakistani troops have been scouring the wild western
tribal belt with U.S. forces, including up to 12 Federal Bureau of
Intelligence agents, in the hunt for hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters
believed to have slipped over the porous border from Afghanistan.
Pakistan has lost 13 soldiers and police in two deadly encounters with
suspected al-Qaeda fugitives in the past two weeks.
Pakistan is a key player in the U.S.-led crackdown against the
al-Qaeda which it holds responsible for the September 11 terror
attacks in the U.S..
Over 300 al-Qaeda suspects have been arrested in Pakistan since
December and Islamabad has launched a campaign to wipe out local
sympathy for bin Laden's men by describing them as "dangerous
religious terrorists."
Meanwhile U.K. newspaper, the International Herald Tribune said that
President Musharraf’s popularity among his countrymen is declining
because of his U.S. liaisons.
President
Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, who bet his future on a post-Sept. 11
alliance with the West, has lost considerable popular support as he
has forced a series of drastic changes on this Islamic country at the
behest of his foreign allies, according to recent interviews with
dozens of Pakistanis, said the Tribune.
“Nine
months after joining the Western coalition against terrorism,
Musharraf, 58, is isolated in his own land, increasingly a figure of
ridicule and the focus of a growing anti-Western fury that is shared
by Islamic militants and the middle class alike.
“The
decline in Musharraf's fortunes represents an abrupt turn around since
last autumn, when he was hailed at home and in the West as a
reform-minded Muslim leader in the mold of Ataturk, the founder of
modern Turkey and one of the general's personal heroes,” it said.
The
paper said that Musharraf’s close identification with the Americans
has earned him the nickname of “Busharraf” on the Paksistani
streets.
The
paper added that while there are no public opinions polls available to
judge Musharraf's performance, many anecdotal indicators, like his
portrayal in the press and comments from political and business
leaders around the country, suggest that public confidence in him has
eroded markedly in recent months.
